GRAUCALUS MELANOPS. 
Black-faced Graucalus. 
Corvus melanops, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxiv. no. 1. 
Cehlepyris melanops, Temm. Man., p. lxii. 
Rollier a masque noir, Le Vaill. Ois. de Parad., pi. 30. 
Black-faced Crow, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 116. — lb. Gen. Hist., vol. iii. p. 46. 
Graucalus melanops, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 216. — Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part IV. 
Kai-a-lora, Aborigines of New South Wales. 
Nu-lar-go, Aborigines of the lowland, and 
Nu-laarg, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia. 
Blue Pigeon of the Colonists. 
New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Swan River and Port Essington are each inhabited by Graucali 
so nearly allied to the present bird, that by many persons it would be considered questionable whether they 
were not referable to one and the same species ; but as this is by no means certain, I shall confine my remarks 
to the bird inhabiting New South Wales, which is one of the largest of the genus yet discovered, and distin- 
guished from its near allies by the greater depth of the blue-grey colouring of the upper surface. 
The Graucalus melanops, then, is a very common bird in New South Wales, but is far less numerous in 
winter than in summer, when it is so generally dispersed over the colony, that to particularize situations in 
which it may be found is quite unnecessary ; hills of moderate elevation, flats and plains thinly covered with 
large trees being alike resorted to ; but I do not recollect encountering it in the midst of the thick brushes, 
— situations which, probably, are uncongenial to its habits and mode of life. On the plains of the interior, 
such as the Liverpool and those which stretch away to the northward and eastward of New South Wales, 
it is more abundant than within the colony. 
Its flight is undulating and powerful, but is seldom exerted for any other purpose than that of conveying 
it from one part of the forest to another, or to sally forth in pursuit of an insect which may pass within 
range of its vision while perched upon some dead branch of a high tree, a habit common to this bird and 
the other members of the genus. On this elevated perch it sometimes remains for hours together ; but 
during the heat of the day seeks shelter from the rays of the sun by shrouding itself amidst the dense 
foliage of the trees. Its food consists of insects and their larva;, and berries, but the former appear to be 
preferred, all kinds being acceptable, from the large Mantis figured in the accompanying Plate, to others 
of a minute size. One of the specimens I procured was shot while in the act of flying off with the insect 
figured. 
As much diversity occurs in the colouring of the face and throat of this species before it arrives at 
maturity, I made a point of minutely investigating the subject during my stay in New South Wales, and the 
following is the result of my observations. When the young, which are generally two in number, leave the 
nest, the feathers of the body are brown, margined with light grey ; this colouring is soon exchanged for one 
of a uniform grey, except on the lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts, which are white, and 
a mark of black which surrounds the eye and spreads over the ears : the throat and forehead in this stage 
are lighter than the remainder of the plumage, which is somewhat singular, as in the next change that takes 
place those parts become of a jet-black ; and this colour, I believe, is never afterwards thrown off, but 
remains a characteristic of the adult state of both sexes, which are at all times so similar in size and colour 
as not to be distinguished from each other. 
It breeds in October and the three following months. The nest is often of a triangular form, in conse- 
quence of its being made to fit the angle of the fork of the horizontal branch in which it is placed ; it is 
entirely composed of small dead twigs, firmly matted together with a very fine, white, downy substance like 
cobwebs and a species of Lichen, giving the nest the same appearance as the branch upon which it is placed, 
and rendering it most difficult of detection. In some instances I have found the nest ornamented with 
the broad, white, mouse-eared Lichen ; it is extremely shallow in form, its depth and breadth depending 
entirely upon that of the fork in which it is built ; the largest I have seen did not exceed six inches in 
diameter. 
The ground-colour of the eggs, which are almost invariably two in number, varies from wood-brown to 
asparagus-green, the blotches and spots, which are very generally dispersed over their surface, varying from 
dull chestnut-brown to light yellowish brown ; in some instances they are also sparingly dotted with deep 
umber-brown ; their medium length is thirteen lines, and breadth ten lines. 
Its note, which is seldom uttered, is a peculiar single purring or jarring sound, repeated several times 
in succession. 
The adults have the forehead, sides of the face, ear-coverts and throat jet-black ; crown of the head, all 
the upper surface and wing-coverts delicate grey ; primaries black, their outer edges and tips margined 
with grey; secondaries grey, with their inner webs black; tail grey at the base, gradually passing into 
black near the extremity, and broadly tipped with white ; chest blackish grey, into which the black of the 
throat gradually passes ; lower part of the abdomen pale grey ; under tail-coverts white ; irides, bill and 
feet black. 
The Plate represents an adult male and a young bird of the first year of the natural size. 
